Kari Gerstheimer, Director of Information and Advice at the learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things. charity Mencap, said:
"The CQC’s report exposing the failures at St Andrews Adolescent Service
A service gives people what they need, like healthcare services that help people when they are ill, and support services that give people support. is long overdue.
"CQC has found this service to be unsafe, poorly led and failing to meet basic standards of care. It is so disappointing that it has deteriorated even further since the last inspection. This has been an ongoing pattern at St Andrews and it is unacceptable that another six months must pass before these major concerns will be looked at again by the regulator. That’s another six months of suffering in these horrendous conditions for the children locked away there.
"The use of seclusion and long-term segregation at St Andrews Adolescent Service is simply unacceptable and a clear violation of patients’ human rights
Human rights
Rights are the things everyone should be allowed to do like have a say, or go to school. are the rights that everyone has. These include the right to go to school and the right to start a family. . Patients should be moved immediately to a safe place and the service closed down.
"Children who have a learning disability and/or autism
Autism is a disability. Autistic people find it difficult to understand what other people think and feel. They also find it difficult to tell people what they think and feel. Everyone with autism is different. deserve better, they have the right to grow up in homes not hospitals. We have long known that these hospitals are completely inappropriate environments for people with learning disabilities and/or autism and leave them at increased risk of abuse
Abuse is when someone bullies you and does or says something to you that makes you feel hurt, upset or scared. and neglect
Neglect is when you are not being cared for or supported. .
"The practices at St Andrews is far from an isolated incident. More than 2,300 people with learning disabilities and/or autism are still locked away in these ‘modern day asylums’, what we need now is urgent action from the government
The Government are the people who run the country. The Government decide how much tax
Tax is the money that pays for things like schools, hospitals and the police. There are different types of taxes like income tax
Income tax is the money that is taken out of the money you earn every month. It helps to pay for things we all need like hospitals and schools. , VAT
VAT is also called Value Added Tax. VAT is the extra money you pay when you buy things. The money goes to the government to pay for things like schools and hospitals. and council tax
Council Tax is the money that people pay to the council. It helps to pay for things like social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection. . people should pay and how things like the National Health Service ( NHS
The NHS is the National Health Service. The NHS gives free healthcare to everyone in the UK and includes things like your GP (doctors) surgery and hospitals. ) should work. and NHS England to get on with closing down these hospitals and investing in good quality social care in the community
A community is the people and places in an area. that we know people with a learning disability need and deserve."
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